corruption
by not a straight trumpet
Summary: Kumiko had no idea who or what this witch was, but there was one thing she knew for certain - everything had suddenly become much, much more dangerous. AU, NeonClan challenge.


EDIT: okay so the formatting did something to the line breaks, sorry about that, hopefully this'll fix it

The young witchslayer wandered the city alone, sword in hand as she searched for her target - the elusive witch only knew as the snow witch. Every dark silhouette could have been the witch, lurking in the shadows like the coward that she was. All witches were like that, really. Cowards. Preying off of the souls of innocent children and causing despair when they weren't busy murdering the witchslayer's comrades. The witchslayer was silently cursing the witches' existence when a voice from behind nearly made her jump.

"Hey," a dry, airy voice uttered from the top of a building. The witchslayer looked up - the figure of a young girl, only around her age, wearing a snow-white dress, stared down at her. "Are you looking for me?" The girl jumped down from the building and landed softly on her toes.

"My name is Kumiko Oumae," the witchslayer growled, pointing her sword towards the girl in the dress. "It's my duty to protect the city from the likes of you."

"Don't bother," the witch sighed, knocking Kumiko's sword aside. Kumiko stiffened as she prepared to run. "I don't need to hurt you. Your form's all wrong, anyway." The witch picked up Kumiko's sword and casually began swinging it dangerously close to her face. Kumiko slowly began to back away. "You don't really know how to kill a snow witch, do you?" the witch murmured, pulling the sword away from Kumiko - much to her relief - and promptly sliced off her own arm. It was all that Kumiko could do to stop herself from throwing up. Suddenly, almost as quickly as it had been chopped off, the arm grew back, almost as if nothing had happened. There was no blood.

"H-how?" Kumiko stuttered.

"It's ice," the witch responded, touching Kumiko's face with her hand. Sure enough, it was freezing to the touch. "Most of my body isn't flesh and blood."

"That must be awful," Kumiko whispered, her voice hoarse.

"You get used to it." The witch shrugged. "I'm Reina, by the way."

"Reina," Kumiko repeated. The name was strange on her tongue - not so much because of the name itself, but because of the fact that it was a witch who possessed this name. Witches weren't supposed to have names or souls or compassion. They were monsters, inhuman creatures with ice for skin and darkness for hearts. Kumiko had no idea who or what this witch was, but there was one thing that she knew for certain - everything had suddenly become much, much more dangerous.

* * *

Kumiko was walking through the city the following night when a familiar voice called her name from above.

"Kumiko," Reina called, dark hair blowing in the wind as she jumped down. "Grab my hand." Kumiko narrowed her eyes.

"How do I know that this isn't some kind of twisted witch trick and that you aren't going to eat my soul or something?" Kumiko inquired. Reina rolled her eyes.

"Just trust me," she muttered. Kumiko sighed and took Reina's hand. Reina jumped, and Kumiko suddenly felt the ground falling away from her. She looked down and saw that Reina was flying, more or less. It was over all too quickly, as Reina landed on the roof of the tall building. The stars twinkled above the city, and the sight was almost astounding enough to make Kumiko forget about her freezing hand. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Reina murmured. Kumiko nodded.

"You're not too bad for a witch," she noted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Reina growled.

"Well, you like things like watching the stars, and you haven't tried to kill me, and you're really pretty . . ." Kumiko trailed off.

"Hmm?"

"Never mind." Reina shifted in her spot.

"I'm exactly like those 'other witches,' and it'd do you good not to forget it," Reina muttered, and Kumiko could have sworn that her purple eyes turned dark for a split second. The two girls sat in silence for a while, watching the stars sparkling above. Kumiko let her still-cold hand rest next to Reina's. Reina swatted it away. "Do you _want_ to freeze to death?" she hissed. Kumiko pulled her hand back. Even without touching, Kumiko still felt an undeniable connection to this witch, and that scared her more than anything.

* * *

"Hey, Kumiko," Hazuki, one of Kumiko's coworkers, called from across the room. "Have you caught that snow witch yet?" Kumiko stiffened, terrified thoughts clouding her mind.

"N-not yet," she stuttered. "B-but I've got some leads on her and I think that I'm probably really close, so I can handle her on my own." Hazuki shrugged.

"That's fine by me, but I'd keep quiet about it in case the boss decides to switch the case to someone like me or Midori. We can't all be experienced hunters, you know." Kumiko nodded.

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

"Hey," Kumiko called, standing in the now-familiar spot. "I brought you something." Reina descended from the building with her usual grace, curiously peering at the bundle that Kumiko was carrying.

"What is it?" she asked, poking the purple cloth.

"It's a blanket," Kumiko explained. "I figured that it might help keep you warm, because, y'know, you're always cold but this is really soft and always helped keep me warm and toasty when I was a little kid, so maybe it'll help you too." Reina's eyes widened, and she gently took the blanket into her hands as if it were a baby.

"Thank you," she whispered, kissing Kumiko's cheek. It was freezing and could accurately be described as being stabbed in the face with an icicle, but for some reason it caused Kumiko to blush like a child.

 _Dear God, I'm in love with a witch,_ Kumiko thought as she watched Reina leap away, blanket tucked safely in her arms.

* * *

"Is it just me, or has Kumiko been acting kinda weird lately?" Midori whispered to Hazuki as the witchslayers gathered for their weekly meeting.

"You're right, she _has_ been obsessing over that snow witch mission," Hazuki noted. "I tried to offer to take over, but she refused."

"Maybe we should follow her," Midori suggested. "In case she's in real trouble." Hazuki nodded.

"I'll meet you here tomorrow night," Hazuki decided. "That's when we'll figure out what she's up to."

* * *

As usual, Reina jumped down from her building, this time with a purple cloth tied around her neck like a cape.

"Hey, you're wearing the, uh, blanket," Kumiko mumbled. Reina shrugged.

"It's soft," she replied, fiddling with one of the ends.

"Would you want to go out on a date?" Kumiko blurted out.

"You do realize that I can't go out in the daytime, right?" Reina responded.

"Yeah, I know, but we could still do something at night, y'know?" Kumiko explained. "We could have a picnic on your building, or-"

"I don't need to eat."

"We could just sit and watch the stars, then."

". . ."

". . ."

"Yeah, I think I'd like that," Reina murmured. "Tomorrow night, then."

"Tomorrow night," Kumiko repeated.

* * *

Kumiko took hold of Reina's hand almost as soon as she arrived, and they flew up the building hand-in-hand, Reina's blanket flapping in the wind. Kumiko hardly noticed Reina's coldness anymore.

"The sky's clear tonight," she noted. Reina nodded in agreement, smoothing out the blanket behind her.

"Do you know about the constellations?" Reina asked.

"I learned about the North Star when I was younger, so that I wouldn't get lost, but that's about it," Kumiko admitted. "You know about constellations?"

"I never had much to entertain myself growing up, so I became familiar with the stars," Reina explained, her voice taking on an almost wistful tone. "They were always there, no matter where I went, so I ended up making friends with them. They always seemed so warm, so welcoming. The stars wouldn't mind if I was cold all the time - they would be nice and lend me some of their heat. That's what I thought, anyway."

"I think I understand," Kumiko murmured. "You want something comforting, something constant. Something that won't go away without warning."

"Yeah. I always thought that the stars were abandoning me on cloudy nights, and I hated it."

"I've been alone, too," Kumiko said softly, pressing her body against Reina's. "I've been alone most of my life, actually. But it's okay now."

"Hmm?"

"We have each other, don't we? We don't have to be alone anymore."

It was a weird kiss, cold and warm and soft and hard all at the same time, but the two girls couldn't care less in that moment. It was love, or something like it, and that was what mattered. Unbeknownst to the lovers, however, two figures lurking behind a chimney were watching the scene unfold, appalled.

"Creepy," Midori breathed, shivering.

"We should tell the boss," Hazuki mused. "The great Asuka Tanaka would know what to do, right?"

"Or we could handle her ourselves," Midori squeaked. "She's just one witch against two skilled hunters-"

"I've only been doing this for a few months," Hazuki reminded the smaller girl.

"Yeah, but symphonies are always stronger with more people," Midori responded. Hazuki let out a defeated sigh.

"Okay, we'll do it two days from now. It'll give us time to prepare."

"Yeah."

Reina turned to check for the source of the sound, but by then, the two witchslayers were gone.

"I don't know why I ever thought we were any different," Kumiko murmured, unaware of the frost slowly traveling up her arm and the dark, flickering eyes of the girl she embraced.

* * *

It was the boss herself who approached Kumiko the next day. Hazuki and Midori awkwardly stood off to the side, fiddling with their weapons.

"So, Kumiko," she drawled, firmly placing a hand on Kumiko's shoulder. "You've been awfully cheerful lately. Did you finally finish that snow witch assignment?"

"No, but, uh, I went on a date!" Kumiko yelped. It wasn't exactly a lie in any case - she knew that Asuka could sense it when someone was lying. A grin crossed Asuka's face, and Kumiko immediately regretted her choice of words.

"A date? Well, it seems like you're growing up!" Asuka laughed. "What happened? What was the other person like? Did you kiss? Did you do anything else? When's the wedding?" Kumiko slowly crept away as her boss swooned over the imaginary relationship.

* * *

"Hey, Reina," Kumiko whispered, sitting next to the other girl on a bench underneath a streetlight. "Could I listen to your heart?" Reina stiffened, pulling the blanket - still tied around her neck like a cape - closer to her body, flexing her pale fingers nervously.

"I suppose," she responded. Kumiko pressed her ear against Reina's chest, listening to the soft _pa-thump, pa-thump, pa-thump_ of her heart. When Kumiko finally pulled away, Reina stared at her with a quizzical expression. "Did you doubt that I had a heart?" she asked, nervously playing with the now-frayed ends of the blanket. Kumiko blinked in surprise.

"No, of course not!" Kumiko yelped. "Why would you even think that?" Reina was taken aback. "You're not like the others! You're special, Reina, and I don't know what it is you do to me, but somehow everything feels better when I'm around you, and I don't even know why I'm saying this, Reina, but I think I'm in love with you and . . . I . . . I don't know why you're so scared, but for once in my life, I'm _not_ scared and it's actually a really great feeling and I just want you to feel that too, do you understand what I'm saying? Reina?"

"I'm not as great as you think I am," Reina muttered, standing up from the bench. "You'll need to remember that." Kumiko noticed a shred of the blanket that had caught on the bench, but Reina was already gone by the time she looked up.

* * *

Kumiko was still lost in her thoughts when Midori approached her, sharpening an arrow. She had always wondered how the smaller girl was able to handle such large weapons - she carried around a quiver of arrows and a heavy bow to fight with despite the fact that the weapons were a great deal larger than her.

"Kumiko," Midori began. "I'll be here for you if you need me tomorrow." Kumiko blinked in confusion.

"It's okay if you want to talk with us!" Hazuki called from across the room. "We don't mind!"

 _They're acting odd,_ Kumiko thought. _Maybe the boss is putting more pressure on them. That'd explain it._

She would come to regret that thought later.

* * *

"You're prepared, right?" Hazuki whispered, fingers tightening around her staff. "She's probably put Kumiko under some spell, so it'll be broken once we kill her." Midori nodded.

"We'll do it on the count of three," Midori squeaked. "One, two, _three!_ " Both girls leapt out from behind the chimney, weapons drawn. Reina turned around.

"Kumiko?" she called, immediately proven wrong by the two young witchslayers prepared to stab her.

"We're here to destroy the spell you've put over our friend, foul witch!" Hazuki yelled, brandishing her staff. Reina tilted her head slightly.

"What spell?" she inquired.

"Don't play dumb!" Midori squeaked, releasing an arrow. Reina casually ducked, leaving the arrow to fly into a window.

"We know what you did!" Hazuki snarled, charging at Reina with her staff. It tore into the blanket before Reina snapped it in two.

"I didn't want to do this, but you haven't given me much of a choice," Reina sighed, kicking Hazuki to the side of the roof and knocking her out. Midori shot arrow after arrow, and Reina dodged them as if they were merely irritating flies. The witchslayer soon found her quiver empty, the only arrow that hadn't flown off of the building embedded in Reina's blanket. Midori ran towards the arrow, but tripped over Hazuki's unconscious body, hitting her head on the pavement. Reina yanked the arrow out of her blanket, holding it above the two unconscious witchslayers as the color slowly drained from her eyes, leaving nothing but darkness.

"Reina?"

Reina dropped the arrow on Midori's hand and swiveled around to face Kumiko, who was watching in horror.

"Y-you were going to kill them?" Kumiko choked out, tears threatening to escape from her eyes.

"They were the ones who attacked," Reina growled. "All I did was defend myself."

"You were going to murder my friends," Kumiko muttered in disbelief. Blood slowly spilled from Midori's hand, soaking into the ends of the now-ragged blanket.

"Kumiko . . ." Reina murmured.

"You tried to _kill them._ "

"Kumiko, please, I just needed to-"

"I'm sorry, I think I just need to get away for a while." Kumiko ran off into the night and carried Midori and Hazuki's limp bodies with her, leaving Reina, shrouded in the torn, blood-stained cloak, to watch her disappear.

* * *

"We're sorry to announce that due to . . . personal matters, Hazuki Katou and Midori Kawashima have chosen to resign from the squad," Asuka read from a sheet of paper, addressing the small crowd of witchslayers, who immediately began to whisper amongst themselves.

"Personal matters, please," one girl whispered. "They're probably lazing around on some tropical island while the rest of us risk our lives."

"Maybe they got transferred to a more dangerous area," another mused. "It could've been all top-secret and stuff so the boss just couldn't tell us. I _did_ see Hazuki polishing her staff the other day."

"I heard that they died on a mission," an older boy piped up. "Kawashima was stabbed like ten times and there was blood _everywhere_ , but the boss decided to keep that under wraps so that none of us would get scared and quit."

"One time," Kumiko muttered. The boy turned.

"Hm?"

"She was stabbed one time. In the hand. It'll heal." The boy stepped closer to look Kumiko in the eye.

"How do you know that, huh?" he growled. "Were you there?"

"N-no, I wasn't there!" Kumiko lied, suddenly realizing the error in what she had said.

"Are you sure you didn't help?"

"What?"

"You weren't kissing your little witch girlfriend, driving the weapon into Kawashima's hand yourself just so that you could _prove yourself_ to that pretty witch of yours?" Kumiko's head spun, an endless barrage of _how did he know that how did he know that how did he know that'_ s running through her mind.

"Shut up, will ya?" a voice sounded from behind Kumiko, a voice that she quickly identified as Natsuki Nakagawa's, walking up to face the boy. "Now, I don't know what crazy rumors are going around about Oumae here, but I can tell you that they aren't true. Okay?"

"Okay," the boy mumbled, slowly backing away.

"Thanks," Kumiko whispered to Natsuki once the crowd had dissipated.

"No problem," the older girl responded. "I don't know where they get those stupid ideas, anyway. I mean, it's not like anyone would _actually_ fall for a witch. That's just dumb."

"Y-yeah," Kumiko choked, trying to fake a laugh. "Crazy, right?"

"Yeah. Crazy." Natsuki walked away. Kumiko wanted to throw up.

* * *

"It was a just a rumor, right?" Kumiko muttered to the small cactus sitting in the center of her desk. Hazuki and Midori, her roommates, were both still hospitalized - _and would be for a long time_ Kumiko thought with a pang - so she could talk freely without being overheard. "He couldn't have _really_ known, the only ones who saw me with Reina were Hazuki and Midori, and they were passed out when I brought them to the hospital. God, they wouldn't even _be_ hurt if it wasn't for me. I'm an idiot. You agree, don't you?" Kumiko was met with obvious silence from the cactus. "Yeah, I know."

"Talking to your plants again, Kumiko?" a voice chirped from behind the door. Kumiko jumped in surprise and ended up slamming her hand on the cactus.

"Owowowowowow," she muttered, cradling her hand. Asuka cracked open the door and walked inside.

"I _do_ have the keys to all of the rooms, you know," she sighed.

"Yeah, I know," Kumiko muttered, still hissing in pain from the cactus. Asuka plopped down into Midori's now-empty chair and slid closer to Kumiko.

"You've been acting awfully strange lately," Asuka commented, casually plucking the cactus prickles from Kumiko's hand. "First the ordeal with Katou and Kawashima-"

"You heard about that?" Kumiko interrupted, forgetting to keep her hand still and letting it fall painfully on the desk.

"You saw them injured while they were on a mission so you stopped tracking the snow witch to rescue them, right?"

"Yeah." Kumiko breathed a sigh of relief.

"As I was saying," Asuka continued. "First the ordeal with Katou and Kawashima, now you're talking to that cactus, not to mention the fact that you let yourself fall victim to these prickles." Kumiko glared at her. "Just a joke, just a joke. Anyway, is it the snow witch? I could take you off of the assignment if it's causing you this much stress. I suppose you could say it's a bit of a _thorn in your side_ , eh?" Kumiko shot her another glare and yanked out the last prickle.

"I guess you could say that," Kumiko admitted. "The thing about the snow witch, I mean. Not . . . not in the way you think, though." Asuka stared for a moment before smiling softly.

"You're not quite as special as you think, Kumiko," she murmured. "You're not the first, you know."

"W-what?"

"Her name was Kaori. I didn't care at all - she was a target, another witch that needed to be destroyed. That's all she was."

"So what happened?"

"I screwed up. To be fair, she did too. We were kids, we didn't think about how much this would hurt later. You remember the old leader, Haruka, right?" Kumiko nodded.

"Yeah. She died on a mission, didn't she? Protecting another witchslayer or something. Everyone who knew her said that she was really noble and stuff."

"She was. She followed me one time, wondering what was going on. I'd be willing to bet that you know where this is going, don't you?" Kumiko's eyes widened.

"You mean . . . she . . ."

"She warned me against it, saying that I needed to do something to stop this. I should at least try to learn more about her, so that she wasn't a threat. I brushed her off and said that I didn't need anyone's help. It would've been nice if it had ended there, but it didn't. I followed her advice for a few months, tried to forget. It was easy enough, but then I did something stupid."

"What did you do?"

"I went back. Haruka tried to stop me, but I went on ahead anyway. I didn't know that she was still following me. I didn't know that Kaori had become bitter. You miss people and do crazy things, you know?" Asuka let out a bitter laugh. "You know about how witches become corrupted after a while and become deadlier than usual?"

"Yeah." Kumiko had seen drawings of corrupted witches in her textbooks - pure speculation, of course, for nobody who had ever seen a corrupted witch in its full power had lived to tell the tale, but they were terrifying - eyes like pools of darkness, extraordinary speed and power, not to mention the assorted horns and claws they usually acquired. Witches were dangerous, corrupted witches were a death signal with fangs.

"I didn't know that emotions tend to speed up the process. Kaori was pissed, that's for sure. I guess I know why, I _did_ pretty much dump her." Asuka laughed again, a hollow, empty sound. "If she had a single scrap of wicked intent in her the day I met her, all of that was increased tenfold. She was out for blood. Haruka ended up taking her down, but in the process she . . ."

"I think I understand," Kumiko murmured.

"Don't make the same mistakes I did, Kumiko," Asuka warned. "Your secret's safe with me, but I'd suggest going to her before it's too late, unless you never want to see her again or end up dead." With that, Asuka trotted out of the room humming a showtune as if nothing had happened.

 _I promise I'll make this right, Reina._

* * *

 _She'll be fine, right?_ Kumiko thought to herself as she approached the building. _It's only been a week. Witches usually take years to become corrupted, even Reina wouldn't go crazy this quickly._

"Reina?" she called. There was no answer. "Reina? Reina, are you there?" she yelled, louder, more desperate, refusing to allow herself to be scared. With a determined grunt, Kumiko began scaling the side of the building, sword tied to her back in case the worst happened, still calling Reina's name every few seconds. After what seemed like hours, Kumiko finally managed to reach the roof of the building. "Reina, I know you're around here somewhere." No response, just the crickets chirping down below and the howl of the wind. "I know I left and I'm really sorry for that, but I'm here now, Reina, I'm here and it's all going to be okay." Nothing. Kumiko raised her voice, scared, desperately calling for the witch. "Reina, I'm-"

"Why did you leave?" a voice muttered from across the roof, hoarse and bitter.

"Reina?"

" _Why did you leave?_ " Reina stood up, her figure illuminated against the moon. The blanket - still tied around her neck - was ragged and bloody, and her eyes were pools of darkness, with only a tiny white pupil inside of them. Her hands - so small and soft when Kumiko had held them - gave way to long, sharp claws. _No, no, no,_ Kumiko thought.

"I'm sorry, Reina," Kumiko yelled, unsheathing her sword despite herself.

"You promised that you wouldn't leave!" Reina snarled, swiping at Kumiko's torso. Kumiko just barely managed to block.

"B-but I'm here now, aren't I?" Kumiko weakly responded, barely blocking Reina's attacks. "I'm here now, I won't leave you again, I promise."

"You said that we wouldn't have to be alone anymore and then you left me. Why should I believe you again?" Reina shot back, digging an icy claw into Kumiko's arm.

"I'm sorry, Reina, I'm so sorry, I never would've left if I knew that it would do this to you, I'm so sorry," Kumiko apologized, tears poking at the corners of her eyes. "It was only a week, I didn't know that it would hurt this much."

"Do you know how time passes for witches?" Reina growled. "It doesn't. You humans have days and weeks and years, we have the good times and the bad times. We don't know how much a second or a millennium is worth. All we know is that there are times when we're happy and times when we're sad, mostly the latter. Your ' _weeks_ ' mean nothing to me."

"I'm sorry, Reina," Kumiko repeated, a thousand 'I'm sorry's pouring from her mouth as tears began to stream down her face. "I'm so sorry, just tell me what I can do to make this right, I promise I'll do it in a split second."

"I've stopped valuing your apologies," Reina muttered, aiming a claw at Kumiko's throat.

"Reina, please, I'll do anything, just please go back to normal, I'm begging you," Kumiko sobbed, hands trembling as she barely dodged the attack.

"It's too late for that," Reina snarled, both claws outstretched towards Kumiko's chest. Kumiko closed her eyes and pushed the sword through Reina's torso, right through her warm, beating heart.

"R-Reina?" Kumiko whispered, opening one eye slowly. Reina crumpled to the ground in stunned silence, her eyes wide - her violet pupils returned for a spilt second before she closed them.

"I suppose you really are special, Kumiko," she coughed as Kumiko embraced her cold body in her arms. "Terrible, really, truly terrible, but . . . but special nonetheless." Reina smiled before becoming completely still.

"Reina, no, no, I can fix this, we can fix this, Reina, oh god I'm so so sorry, Reina, please wake up, please, please, I didn't want you to die," Kumiko wailed, shaking Reina's body over and over again, hoping for something, anything, that signified that she was alive. Nothing came. " _Please."_

* * *

It's been said that there is a witchslayer more powerful than most, who long ago quit her squad and now wanders alone in search of those wicked enemies, the most horrible of witches that have been corrupted and are beyond saving. You can find her, if you know where to look, atop an old building, her tattered purple cloak billowing in the wind, sword in hand as she searches for her next target.

You can often see her watching the stars, wondering if the snow witch has been accepted among them, hoping that they have allowed her at least some of their warmth, the warmth that she, in the end, could never have truly given her.


End file.
